Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arrived in China on Friday, his first visit in five years, to renew engagement between the two countries as China’s ties sour with the West and the South American country seeks fresh financing.
China, the world’s largest oil importer, is Venezuela’s largest creditor and a key customer and player in the OPEC member’s energy industry, which has the world’s largest proven crude reserves.
Energy trade, debt repayment and new financing likely are the main focus of the Sept. 8-14 visit, officials and sources said. Venezuela owes over $10 billion to China, according to independent data.
Since the U.S. imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, Caracas’ debt repayment to China has slowed and state oil company PDVSA is no longer shipping crude directly to its Chinese partners, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp(CNPC.UL) and PetroChina (601857.SS).
Source: Reuters
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